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Sunday, January 31, 2016

What a wonderful Whorn

St. Louis-based blogger Alan Lorence of It’s Not Work, It’s Gardening! is not only an insightful writer and photographer, he’s also an accomplished woodworker. He recently started a new company, Nimble Mill, to market his handcrafted furniture and garden art. Nimble Mill has released three designs so far: the Whorn, a stool/table for indoor and outdoor use; the Bayce, a plant container or stand; and the Trang, a triangular variant of the Whorn.

The Whorn “spoke” to me ever since I saw a preview a few months ago. Last week I finally received my own pair. Eventually my Whorns will go in the backyard to serve both as additional seating and, for my own selfish purposes, as side tables when I laze in the hammock.

Even though the Whorn is designed for outdoor use, protected with a polyurethane finish that should withstand the elements, I’m keeping my units inside until the rainy season is over. And since they’re still shiny and new, now seemed like a good time to take a few photos.

The Whorn comes in a variety of colors. Mine are Just Red and Moss Green. (The shade of green looks a bit different in reality than it does in these photos. The colors on the Nimble Mill site are more true-to-life.)

The Whorn is not a flimsy piece of furniture—it weighs in at a solid 20+ lbs! Alan told me it’s made of southern pine but he’s experimenting with other types of wood as well.

The legs are stained Dark Roast, which offers a nice contrast.

At the bottom there’s a fill hole (covered with a bolt head in the photo below) so you can add sand, small pebbles, etc. to make the Whorn even heavier. I don’t think it’s needed, but it’s nice to have that option.

I love that each unit is handsigned and -numbered, much like a piece of art would be

This morning, my younger daughter, our black Lab Sasha, and I had some fun with our two Whorns.

The Whorn is not an el cheapo piece of furniture churned out by a Chinese factory, or sold by the thousands at IKEA. Instead, each unit is handmade, with Alan’s love of workworking and attention to detail showing at every turn. The Whorn is art—practical art.

Sasha thinks ANY piece of furniture is a good place for a dog food bowl.

We're not using the Whorns inside (yet). I'm still trying to decide where they will go. As I said in my reply to Loree, I'm tempted to keep them inside. But I still like the idea of a hammock side table...